


the complete opposite like complementary colours

by bubblyying



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: 'delinquents' beomjun, Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Crushes, Getting Together, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, good students sootaekai, side beomkai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23940982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblyying/pseuds/bubblyying
Summary: Yeonjun and Taehyun came from two vastly different sides of the spectrum of high schoolers, a very unlikely combination of people.But somehow, their paths eventually crossed.Because everyone should not forget the one time Yeonjun wore that leather jacket to the airport and that Beomgyu used to rock the e-boy look.
Relationships: Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 3
Kudos: 136





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's me I'm back again!  
> I'm trying something new this time - I've never written more than one chapter but this story ended up being too long so I split it up for clarity. And there's more than one ship! And all of OT5 is in this story! I hope I don't do them injustice.

“AT LAST! Out of this hellhole.”

“Say it louder, Kai, for all the teachers in the staff room to hear you,” Taehyun laughed, grinning wider when Huening Kai pouted and (gently) slapped his linked arms, which were looped around Kai’s right arm. Soobin laughed along gently on Kai’s other side as they walked out of the gates of the school.

“I’ll be fine,” Kai waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve got the class president and every teacher’s dream student here, what have I got to be afraid of?” He shot both his friends a cheeky grin, unfaltering even as they pretended to return blank stares back.

Taehyun turned away to hide his smile when he spotted a head of blue hair a short distance away from them. He swallowed, feeling his heart rate suddenly pick up in speed.

Clad in his signature leather jacket, a white shirt and a pair of light blue jeans, Choi Yeonjun could really be said to be one of the most attractive people at the school (according to Taehyun, anyway). He always carried around the air of throwing all caution to the wind, skipping classes whenever he felt like it, committing petty acts around the neighbourhood like drawing graffiti on the brick walls of the alleyways or skateboarding in places where they had signs all over forbidding people to. The authorities had labelled him as a troubled kid, but the school allowed him to stay after accounting in his amazing grades (to everyone’s surprise), and the fact that he never truly set out to hurt people during his activities.

Still, among the rest of the students, rumours were abound that Yeonjun had joined a gang, that he was secretly sneaking drugs, that he once took down 6 grown men in a knife fight, so on and so forth, which Taehyun had decided not to believe anyway. After all, being a victim of bullying himself, he knew how fake rumours usually were.

On the other hand, Taehyun had maintained the top student position at school since he entered and he aimed to keep it that way until graduation. He was lucky to be able to rely on Huening Kai and Soobin in school, who were his friends since they were in diapers. Despite the stark differences between Yeonjun and himself, Taehyun could not lie to himself and say that every time he saw Yeonjun in the hallways of school (when he chose to attend anyway), his heart did not flutter or his face did not flush easily at the thought of Yeonjun possibly noticing a giant nerd like him.

But he will never admit that out loud to Kai or Soobin. Unless he wanted the endless teasing that he knew would follow.

While Taehyun was busy with his own thoughts, Kai had started complaining about math class, and Soobin echoed his sentiments as they casually strolled past the delinquents.

“Well, okay, but complex numbers are-“

“Hey there, babydoll!”

The trio froze and slowly turned around to meet the sharp gaze of a blue-haired boy.

Taehyun’s eyes widened as he realized how he and Choi Yeonjun were directly facing each other. The older boy was leaning against the outer fence of the school, the stick of a lollipop sticking out of his mouth. He was smirking a little as he stared at the trio. Taehyun turned to glance quickly at his friends, who returned the same puzzled looks back to him.

Taehyun turned back to Yeonjun, only to meet those captivating eyes staring right at him. He felt his breathing catch in his throat, but maintained an air of calm (even though his heart was beating a million times a minute).

“Er… hi.”

Taehyun surprised himself at his boldness. It seemed as if Yeonjun straightened himself up and Taehyun could see his eyes light up at the response, but maybe Taehyun was just imagining things. Maybe.

“Get home safe!” A voice suddenly piped up behind Yeonjun and a black-haired boy walked up to stand beside Yeonjun. Taehyun recognized him as Choi Beomgyu, Yeonjun’s ‘partner-in-crime’ and also a classmate in Huening Kai’s homeroom. Curiously, he noticed how Kai jumped in shock as Beomgyu appeared, and how his cheeks were tinted a soft pink. Taehyun caught Soobin’s eye as the taller boy also looked over, and they shared a knowing look.

“T-thanks,” Kai smiled nervously, now openly staring at Beomgyu, who met his stare with an intense gaze. “S-see you today- erm, tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow.”

Beomgyu smiled wider and simply waved, the bright, boyish smile on his face mismatched with the all-black outfit he was sporting. Yeonjun nodded as well, eyes still fixated onto Taehyun. Taehyun could not help himself but to look over as well, feeling his ears grow hot at how Yeonjun was eyeing him up and down. He distracted himself by tugging onto Kai’s arm to direct him away, and the trio continued on their path.

They waited for a few steps until they were sure they had walked a fair distance from the school before Soobin turned around to grin cheekily at Kai. “So, Choi Beomgyu, huh?”

Kai let out a flustered screech and wrenched his arm out of Taehyun’s clutches, lunging at Soobin, who ducked out of his way, giggling as he ran to hide (well, as much as he could anyway) behind Taehyun, who finally burst out laughing at his younger friend’s antics.

Kai crossed his arms, pouting like a child, even as the flush on his cheeks persisted.

“Don’t you two dare say anything. How about we talk about how Choi Yeonjun had the eye out for our Taehyunnie, hmm? It was like we were dust beside him.”

  
“Oh, tell me more,” Soobin grinned, craning his head to look at Taehyun’s face.

Taehyun straightened himself. “Don’t exaggerate things, Hyuka. He was looking at all of us. Don’t change the subject.”

“Your ears tell a different story, _babydoll_.” Kai exaggerated the last word, lowering his voice to try to match Yeonjun’s husky tone but ended up sounding like Darth Vader instead.

Taehyun huffed, reaching up with his hands to cover his (now very warm) ears, causing Kai and Soobin to burst out laughing at his expense. Taehyun, in return, simply grunted and continued walking down the sidewalk without waiting to see if his friends were following him. This only caused his friends to laugh even harder, even as they rushed to keep up with Taehyun’s quickened pace.

“I’m pretending I don’t hear you!” Taehyun yelled back to his friends as he continued walking, and their casual bickering continued to echo throughout the neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, once Taehyun, Kai and Soobin were out of earshot, Yeonjun turned to look at Beomgyu.

“Get home safe, my sweet, adorable, baby Huening Kai,” Yeonjun mocked, deliberately making his voice squeaky and high-pitched to annoy the younger. Beomgyu yelled and pushed Yeonjun away, the latter only grinning widely. “Damn, you’re too whipped. It’s disgusting, get it out of my face already.” Yeonjun continued to tease, reaching with a hand to pat Beomgyu’s head twice like a puppy (never more than twice, Yeonjun learnt that the hard way, but his best friend was sometimes too cute to resist, even with his tough-guy exterior).

Beomgyu rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because we’re all so smooth. Who calls someone babydoll anyway?”

Yeonjun glowered back. “So my brain never works when it comes to Kang Taehyun, we get it. It was just a slip of the tongue-“

“Your brain has never worked a day in its life anyway-“

“You fu-“

* * *

Taehyun took his seat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, reaching into his bag to retrieve his sandwiches. He scanned the room and when he found Soobin leaving the queue with food on his tray, Taehyun lifted up his hand to wave him over. When they finally made eye contact, Soobin beamed and walked straight towards him.

Both of them were too distracted to notice that Soobin was walking past the table where Park Sa-young and his posse usually sat at – they usually avoided being within meters of the group, for good reason: Sa-young had somehow harboured a hatred for Soobin, Taehyun and Kai and would harass them at any turn. The tray that Soobin was holding blocked his view from the leg that Sa-young casually extended, waiting for Soobin’s downfall.

And indeed, Soobin stumbled over Sa-young’s leg, almost falling flat on his face-

Until a hand reached out to pull him back, allowing Soobin to regain his balance again while another hand helped to stabilize the lunch tray so that its contents would not spill all over the floor.

Soobin turned, flustered, trying to identify his saviour, and was surprised to find Choi Yeonjun gripping onto his arm.

Ever since the first day Yeonjun and Beomgyu said hi to Soobin, Taehyun and Kai, the greetings continued almost every day, and simply saying hi and bye evolved into making small talk about the events in school. It helped as well that Beomgyu and Kai were both assigned to be each other’s project partners for the semester, which created the platform for more interactions (and more platforms for Yeonjun, Soobin and Taehyun to tease their respective friends). As such, even as their conversations were mostly limited to that corner of the school, they had rarely interacted with each other in school within school hours.

Yeonjun simply gave him a calm nod. “Watch where you’re going.” There was a hint of a smile, though, as his eyes drifted away, and Soobin followed his gaze to see Taehyun, now sporting a look of visible gratitude on his face.

“T-thank you so much!”

Yeonjun nodded back at Soobin again, before letting go and continuing on his path to the door that led out into the courtyard.

Soobin then looked back towards Sa-young, noticing with a sense of satisfaction that the latter had turned back towards his table with a dark look on his face, his friends shooting glares at Soobin.

Soobin quickly diverted his route and soon reached Taehyun.

“He helped you.” Taehyun smiled. “I didn’t expect him to.”

Soobin grinned as he took his seat.

“Maybe this is a good start. Why? Looking for more opportunities to hang out with him?”

Taehyun was so surprised he did not have time to hide the flush that bloomed from his neck up to his face. Soobin nudged him playfully before turning his attention back to his food.

“Shut up, Soobin-hyung.”

* * *

Taehyun walked towards the bathroom, yawning in exhaustion. He was the last to leave the library, which was not unusual considering the amount of work and extra credit he was rushing to finish. He took the usual route and elbowed the door open, huffing out a sigh of relief as he finally got to wash his hands.

“Oh, surprise, surprise. It’s little Kang Taehyun.”

Oh right. Detention ended around the same time as he usually left the library. How could he forget? Taehyun usually observed his surroundings before he walked out into the hallways, but today in particular he was just feeling too weary to remember.

Taehyun closed his eyes to collect himself, then he turned around to face Sa-young.

“Just let me get out of your way,” he responded tiredly. “I don’t have the energy to talk to you today.”

And without warning, his sentence ended with a gasp as Jae-Hwa, another of Sa-young’s taller friends, grabbed him and shoved him up against the bathroom wall. His arms were also pinned to the sides of his body, preventing his struggle. Taehyun winced from the sudden hard impact.

Sa-young walked up to a trembling Taehyun, a smug smirk on his face.

“Not so brave now that your friends aren’t with you now, huh?”

Then he landed a punch onto Taehyun’s left cheek.

Taehyun let out a loud yelp as he felt his head hit the marble walls of the bathroom, causing a searing pain to envelope his entire head. He could feel the left side of his face start to swell already.

“Don’t worry,” Sa-young mocked again, reaching up to pull on Taehyun’s hair harshly, causing the latter to whimper a little. “No need to call for anyone. Everyone’s gone home so there’s probably no one to hear you scream-“

As if by sheer luck, the door to the bathroom opened and Taehyun could see a blonde boy walk in. Even Sa-young stopped and turned around to see who had interrupted their “talk”. Jae-Hwa let go of Taehyun and the latter fell to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest.

“Move, Park, I just need to use the- wait, Taehyun?”

When Taehyun met Yeonjun’s eyes, it was with a look of absolute relief – well, as much relief as you could express while slumped on the dirty bathroom floor, his cheek aching from the punch that Sa-young had delivered.

It was like an angel had walked into the room, was all Taehyun could think to himself, staring at the delinquent as the latter’s eyes narrowed, scanning his surroundings. And then Taehyun hissed as he ducked to hold his head with both hands. He had probably moved too much.

Taehyun heard shuffling as Yeonjun pushed past the gang to stand in front of Taehyun. “What did they do to you?” was all Taehyun heard, but his head hurt too much to speak, so he just groaned in response.

“We were just hanging out, Choi. Mind your own business.” Sa-young spoke up, only to be silenced by Yeonjun’s piercing glare.

“Okay, whatever, I can never believe you. Get out unless you’re looking for a fight.”

While Sa-young’s gang did outnumber Yeonjun, Yeonjun’s ‘reputation’ did come with a huge advantage.

The gang apparently decided that he was not worth the fight and Sa-young led the group out. He turned around to look at Taehyun, who was still cowered on the floor, and pointed a threatening finger. “Don’t you think we’re done with you, Kang.”

As the door closed behind the group, Yeonjun scoffed in annoyance and turned back to face Taehyun. The tough demeanour he was sporting suddenly dropped and Taehyun felt him approach, squatting down until he was eye-level. “Hey, are you alright?” Yeonjun asked nervously, his hand hovering over Taehyun’s arm. He wasn’t sure whether Taehyun would be okay with being touched at the moment.

Taehyun finally lifted his head up and Yeonjun felt an ache in his chest at how shiny those big, beautiful brown eyes were from the tears that were pooling in them. Sighing, Yeonjun finally gave in and rested his hand onto Taehyun’s, rubbing his thumb in circles for comfort. If both of them felt a tiny spark when their hands made contact, none of them said anything else.

There was a terse silence as Taehyun struggled to collect himself and Yeonjun waited patiently for him to do so.

When Taehyun had stopped trembling, Yeonjun stood up and walked towards the sink, where he fiddled with a loose tile underneath it. Taehyun watched confusedly as Yeonjun removed the tile and retrieved a first aid kit from the hole that was made.

“I-is that yours?” he asked curiously.

Yeonjun smirked. “Beomgyu and I stashed it here… just in case something happens. We’re not giving this school an excuse to kick us out.”

He walked back towards Taehyun and opened the kit, now sitting cross-legged on the floor. He grabbed Taehyun’s wrist gently, looking at him for permission. When Taehyun nodded, he pulled the hand that was covering his face away to reveal the nasty-looking bruise that was starting to form on his face.

“Why would they do that to such a beautiful face?” Yeonjun muttered under his breath angrily, not knowing that Taehyun could hear every word. Taehyun could not help but blush and break out into a huge smile.

“Thank you, that’s very sweet of you.”

Yeonjun looked up in surprise. “I…. I didn’t say anything-“

Taehyun giggled at Yeonjun’s flustered expression, and replied, “For what it’s worth, I think you look beautiful too.” Part of him could not believe the words coming out of his own mouth. Where was he suddenly getting all this bravery from?

Yeonjun only grunted in response, too embarrassed to retort back. He simply busied himself with applying a topical cream onto Taehyun’s cheek. Taehyun unwittingly felt himself holding his breath – the callouses on Yeonjun’s fingers combined with the softness of Taehyun’s cheek was an interesting feeling. Yeonjun himself looked gorgeous close-up, his eyes narrowed in concentration and his nose scrunched as he focused on treating Taehyun’s bruise.

“Stop staring at me.” Yeonjun grumbled, keeping the cream back into the kit, and Taehyun immediately snapped back into reality.

He smiled as he grabbed onto the sink nearby to pull himself up.

“How… how’s your head? They hit it hard, didn’t they?” Yeonjun asked quietly as he turned around to look at Taehyun.

“Hmm… I’m not sure. If you’re so worried, how about you walk me home so that I get back safe?“ Taehyun retorted back, making use of the last of his bravado.

Taehyun’s heart fluttered as he watched Yeonjun look away to try to hide the huge smile forming on his face.

“Sure, w-whatever,” Yeonjun muttered, still trying to appear nonchalant, yet nothing could stop the flush that started to form on his cheeks.

* * *

Something felt different. Taehyun could not put his finger on what exactly was different, though.

_Wait–_ Taehyun froze as Sa-young and his posse walked past the tree where he, Kai and Soobin were standing and chatting under before school started. He caught Sa-young’s eye as he walked past, and Sa-young slowed his steps. Taehyun quickly looked away, fearfully expecting another confrontation like Sa-young had always instigated whenever they crossed paths, but when he looked up, the group was gone.

“That’s strange.” Soobin observed. “Haven’t you guys noticed that in the past week Sa-young hasn’t bothered us at all?” Taehyun had not realized that Kai and Soobin were also noticing his movements.

Kai and Taehyun nodded in reply, also wearing the same looks of confusion.

Hours later, when the final school bell rang, Taehyun gathered his items and immediately walked out of his classroom to meet Kai and Soobin. As he was walking down the stairwell, he heard a whispered “Kang Taehyun” above him, and he stalled in his tracks. Turning around, he took careful steps up the stairs until he saw Sa-young leaning against the stair banister, whispering heatedly with a fellow clique member Taehyun could not bother remembering the name of.

“Dude, it’s Choi Yeonjun. Do you guys think I have a death wish?” Sa-young grumbled, crossing his arms defensively.

“What did he say to you, dude? You’ve never been so chicken around those nerds.”

_“I’m going to say this once, and I hope I never have to repeat this again,” Yeonjun growled, pinning Sa-young against the wall, using one hand to keep him in a frontal choke hold. “I don’t want you or your little posse anywhere near Kang Taehyun, Huening Kai or Choi Soobin. I better hear that they are to be left alone. If I find so much as a hair on them that has been touched by your filthy hands, I will come back for you, and you won’t be leaving this school intact. Understand?”_

“He just told me-“ Sa-young stopped to pick his words carefully, “look, the most important thing is that we shouldn’t bother those 3 anymore if you don’t want Choi Yeonjun or Choi Beomgyu coming after us, okay? Leave it.”

As he listened, his heart pounding so hard he was mildly concerned that Sa-young would hear his heart beating, Taehyun took it all in. And then he just smiled stupidly to himself and walked away to meet his friends.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been about 2 months since the five of them started talking. Sometimes Taehyun would wonder how this strange sort-of-friendship formed, but it seemed to happen so naturally that he eventually decided that he should not bother about things like that. After all, Yeonjun and Beomgyu were actually quite decent people despite their hostile appearances. They even shared some interesting opinions on different topics, which was refreshing to hear.

Besides, it gave him the chance to interact more with Yeonjun, since it was difficult for them to meet during school because of their differing schedules, and it was an opportunity Taehyun would never pass up. Not when he had the excuse of being a polite conversationalist to look at how Yeonjun’s eyes sparkled like the galaxies when he talked about something he was interested in. Or when he laughed at his own dad jokes or giggled at Taehyun’s comments. Or when he started to let his guard down when the five of them hung out, allowing Taehyun to see how much of a softie he really was with his friends – nothing that you would expect coming from someone who seemed aloof at first glance.

Taehyun hissed and cursed himself in his head. He was too whipped for Choi Yeonjun, wasn’t he? It was pointless, there was no chance that someone as cool as Yeonjun liked him. Yeonjun rode a motorcycle, his fashion sense was impeccable, and admittedly, he had many admirers for his beauty even despite his reputation.

Little did he know that on the other side of things, Yeonjun was constantly freaking out about beautiful Kang Taehyun, with his beautiful voice and his beautiful face and his beautiful personality and-

“Yeonjun-hyung,” Beomgyu sighed, flopping backwards onto Yeonjun’s bed. “Just confess already. You’re driving me nuts. Just kiss kiss fall in love, done.”

“Says you!” Yeonjun protested, turning around in his chair and pointing a dramatic finger at his best friend.

Beomgyu rolled his eyes and sat straight up. “Stop changing the subject. This is about the boy you’ve been pining over for months, even before we all started talking! Please tell him everything that you’ve been driving me nuts with for the past few months.”

“Well, you-“

Yeonjun got up from his chair and made his way menacingly over to his best friend, yelling as he jumped and tackled Beomgyu, who was still lying on the bed. Beomgyu let out a loud scream as they wrestled with each other, until Yeonjun got tired and flopped beside Beomgyu, both heaving deep breaths from exertion.

After a few beats of silence, Beomgyu whispered, his head turned to face Yeonjun, “Yeonjun-hyung, what are you afraid of?”

Yeonjun bit his lip as he wondered how to answer the question.

“It’s just-“ He sighed. “He’s perfect. He’s too perfect. He’s the top student, he’s beautiful, he’s funny…… he’s everything. I can never feel like I’m enough for him. Or good enough.”

Beomgyu could not help but let out a small sigh watching his best friend. Yeonjun had always closed himself off to other people after his mother passed away, only opening up in varying quantities to the people who he trusted wholeheartedly – Beomgyu being one of those special people. So it was interesting watching him grow close to Taehyun and Soobin and Kai; they fitted in so seamlessly it seemed as if they had been friends for years. Even with Yeonjun’s hostile and (sometimes) aggressive-looking front, Beomgyu could see the Yeonjun that he knew instead of the Yeonjun that everyone else knew, and he was glad that now the other three could also see Yeonjun in his true form.

“Yeonjun-hyung, I’ve only known Taehyun for as long as you have as well, but I’m sure that Taehyun isn’t the type to think that way…”

A ‘ding’ from Yeonjun’s phone startled the duo and they both jumped, Yeonjun scrambling for his phone to see Taehyun’s contact name pop up in his notifications. Upon seeing the dopey grin that Yeonjun suddenly developed, Beomgyu let out a loud laugh and gestured for Yeonjun to continue the conversation with Taehyun, busying himself with his own phone instead.

**cutest boy in the universe**

_Hyung!_

_Are you free tomorrow?_

_taehyun!_

_i am, what’s up?_

**cutest boy in the universe**

_Well…… I kinda told Hyuka about the time you told me about the alleyway where you draw your grafitti….. And he’s kinda curious and wants to go there now._

_Are you alright with taking us + Soobin-hyungie there? Pleaseeeeee_

_Beomgyu-hyung should come along as well! ^______^_

_wahhh taehyun_

_why would I reveal my secrets to you?_

**cutest boy in the universe**

_Because you’re the nicest and kindest and most handsome human being and the best dancer I’ve ever known!_

_Is that enough compliments for you? : >_

Yeonjun paused for a moment as he put his phone down to place his (burning) face into his hands. He could hear Beomgyu's merciless snickering behind him and Yeonjun waved a careless fist into Beomgyu’s direction. After Yeonjun was done freaking out at how adorable Kang Taehyun was, he picked up his phone, pretending that he did not spend the past few seconds screaming internally.

_…fine, you got me_

_see you guys tmr, same spot?_

**cutest boy in the universe**

_Yayyyyy thank you Yeonjun-hyung!!!_

_TBH I’m surprised you agreed so readily, hehe ^_____^_

Yeonjun cleared his throat and typed, suddenly feeling a bit more bold.

_only because you’re too endearing to fight with_

Time passed and Yeonjun was about to panic and take his message back, but-

**cutest boy in the universe**

_Oh? Are you flirting with me? : >_

_you wish :p_

**cutest boy in the universe**

_Really……_

_I wouldn’t mind it if you do, though._

Yeonjun unabashedly let out a squeak as he threw his phone aside carelessly, hitting Beomgyu in the leg. The latter let out a noise of protest as he sat up to hit Yeonjun back in retaliation, but not before grabbing the phone out of curiosity.

He grinned as he read the still-open text conversation.

“And you think he doesn’t like you back?” He snorted. “Hyung, you really are dense.”

Yeonjun shrugged. He fell back onto the bed, groaning, an arm across to cover his eyes.

“Gyu-ah, don’t give me false hope.”

Beomgyu’s face softened again and he shook his head. “I swear I will never. Look, whenever Kai and I talk he always tells me how Taehyun has never been so adventurous or so bold before we started hanging out. Look, he even texted you to go spray-painting – Kai said that he would never fathom that possibility because Taehyun used to always hole himself up in the library until dinnertime. You’ve made him more expressive. Kai’s always very happy talking about it.”

Yeonjun mulled over the new information he was given, but he was struck with a sudden realization.

“Oh? Wow, so you and Hyuka text a lot, don’t you?” He teased.

Beomgyu’s face turned red and he pouted, punching Yeonjun in the arm in embarrassment. The latter laughed as he watched Beomgyu fumble for answers in his head.

“I-It’s just for our project….”

“Then why did Taehyunie tell me about how Kai was so distracted during their study session together because he was texting you the whole time and giggling like crazy?”

“He…. He was?”

Beomgyu’s sudden soft and hopeful tone made Yeonjun grin even wider. If it was not any more possible, Beomgyu flushed even more, giving up the argument.

“I concede. How about this: we’re both kind of messes, aren’t we?” Beomgyu scoffed, flopping back onto the bed to lie next to Yeonjun.

Yeonjun just chuckled drily, hugging his phone to his chest.

* * *

Taehyun almost tripped over a loose pebble on the sidewalk as he made his way past the school gates. Stumbling to a stop to regain his balance, he huffed to himself as he reached up to wipe his eyes with the cuffs of his sweater, trying to hold back his sniffling and the tears that continually formed in his eyes despite his best efforts.

“Keep it together, Kang Taehyun.” He murmured to himself angrily as he struggled to take in a few deep breaths. His fists clenched at his sides as he felt his chest shake in effort. He could feel the curious eyes of other schoolmates on him as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk, but he still could not bring himself to keep moving.

Taehyun was not sure if he had simply woken up on the wrong side of bed today, but every little thing seemed as if they were out to push him to his limit today. The challenging physics test that made everyone’s head spin, the huge workload he was given for his chemistry revision and even the way the table next to his at lunch was chatting so loudly Taehyun could not hear Huening Kai speak without having to strain his ears frustrated him.

To make matters worse, when Taehyun was rearranging his books at his locker after school, an excited schoolmate, deep into conversation with her friends, chose the moment when she was passing by him to throw her hands up in the air, hitting Taehyun in the head and making him stumble in surprise into the neighbouring locker. When Taehyun straightened himself up to look into the mirror he had set up in his own locker, he noticed a tiny cut above his left eyebrow that was inflicted by the metal lock on the other locker.

Usually Taehyun would shrug it off and keep moving, especially as it was an accident and the schoolmate kept apologizing profusely, but today felt like the breaking point.

Huening Kai had his guitar ensemble club meeting and Soobin had urgent student council matters to attend to, which left Taehyun to walk home alone today. It was usually alright for him, but today was a day that he could really have used his friends’ support. It was not their fault; Taehyun would never think of forcing his friends to abandon their duties and activities, but his heart ached at the thought of walking home alone, lost in his own negative thoughts.

He let out a shaky breath and kept walking. He was too caught up in his own thoughts, wanting to just reach home and cry his eyes out, that he did not notice Yeonjun standing at his usual spot.

“Hi Taehyun!”

Taehyun paused, catching his breath. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone, but Yeonjun….

The latter approached him, hands deep into the pockets of his own jeans. To Taehyun’s surprise, Yeonjun placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, forcing Taehyun to look up into Yeonjun’s alluring eyes. It quickly faded to a look of concern though, when he caught sight of how shiny Taehyun’s own eyes were and how the boy was shaking like a leaf. “Hey angel, are you suddenly going to ignore me after all these weeks- hey, are you alright? You’re bleeding.”

Taehyun could not bring himself to speak. The tears were starting to form again and he unintentionally let out a loud sniffle, startling Yeonjun. Still, the older boy held his cool, simply waiting for Taehyun to answer his question.

“W-what happened?” Yeonjun asked again, curious.

Taehyun did not know what suddenly came over him. All he knew was that at one instance he was still standing upright, and the next instance he dropped to his knees, holding his stomach as he burst out into loud tears. Yeonjun startled but followed him immediately, tugging Taehyun into his arms while glaring at the passers-by who had stopped to stare at the duo. Thankfully, the crowd cleared immediately because of Yeonjun’s intimidating stance, and he turned to focus on soothing Taehyun, who was now sobbing into his shirt. With one hand caressing his hair and another hand rubbing his back in comfort, Yeonjun began to hum a soft melody into Taehyun’s ear.

Gradually, Taehyun began to calm down.

Yeonjun gently pulled both of them to their feet, but kept an arm around Taehyun’s shoulders. That was when he suddenly noticed the cut on Taehyun’s cheek and he frowned, reaching over to brush his thumb under it, feeling Taehyun’s breath hitch at the touch. “Did someone do this to you?” He asked, feeling anger boiling deep inside him. If that guy-

“Hyung, it’s okay,” Taehyun said softly, gently gripping Yeonjun’s wrist. “I just bumped into something. I’ll wash it when I get back home.”

Yeonjun nodded slowly. “Is it okay if I walk you home?” he asked warily, still worried about the younger boy.

Taehyun nodded, still quiet and solemn. Yeonjun understood and removed the arm around Taehyun’s shoulders (Taehyun missed the contact, but he didn’t say it out loud), and the two started walking side by side. The journey was silent and awkward, but Yeonjun did not want to push Taehyun into conversation. All he wanted to do was just to make sure that Taehyun was feeling better.

* * *

“Well… this is where I live.” Taehyun spoke up shyly, and Yeonjun snapped out of his thoughts to see them stopping outside a two-story red brick house.

“O-oh,” Yeonjun blurted out, looking at the house, and then at Taehyun. “It’s very nice.” He said awkwardly.

Taehyun giggled and opened the gate to his house. “Do you wanna come in for a while?”

Yeonjun startled a little. “Erm, that’s fine, I’ll just-“

Right on cue, they heard the sound of thunder. The rain started falling steadily and Yeonjun and Taehyun stared at each other with their eyes widened.

Immediately, Taehyun reached forward and grabbed Yeonjun’s hand. “Just come in!” They ran towards the sheltered front porch, where Taehyun huffed and dug into his pockets for his keys. Yeonjun, on the other hand, was still spiralling at how _Taehyun was holding my hand! He’s holding it!_ , and could only stare dumbly at the younger boy as he opened the door to his home.

Taehyun fidgeted as they entered the house.

“I-I-“ he hesitated a bit, as if suddenly realizing that he had just pulled _Yeonjun_ into his house. “I’ll get you some towels, you can wash up in the bathroom. Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to walk me home, now you’re caught in the rain-“

“Hey, hey.” Yeonjun soothed, reaching out to place a hand on Taehyun’s shoulder, interrupting his wild train of thought. “Relax. I don’t mind it. I’m always willing to do anything for you.”

He smiled as Taehyun ducked his head to hide the growing blush on his cheeks.

After Taehyun regained his normal heartbeat – damn it, Choi Yeonjun – he gestured for Yeonjun to wait around in the living room while he rushed upstairs to grab towels for the both of them. Yeonjun shrugged off his leather jacket, feeling uncomfortably wet in it, but hugged it to his chest as he waited around awkwardly, not wanting to sit on the sofa with his wet clothing. Thankfully, the jacket had covered most of his shirt when they were out in the rain, so he still felt relatively dry on the upper half of his body.

He gazed at a few framed pictures that decorated the walls of the home. He could see little Taehyun with his older sister in mid-laughter as they manoeuvred in a toddler driving car, his sister pushing him around. There were pictures of the siblings and their parents camping, at Taehyun’s or his sister’s graduation ceremonies, or celebrating each other’s birthdays. They looked like a happy family.

Yeonjun felt that all-too-familiar ache in his chest.

He was soon distracted from his thoughts, however, as Taehyun rushed back down with towels, which he handed to Yeonjun. Yeonjun smiled and nodded with thanks as he took them, heading towards the bathroom as indicated by Taehyun.

As he stepped outside, still drying his hair with his towel, he noticed Taehyun being deep in discussion with a girl who looked like his older sister. It also seemed that he had already cleaned the cut on his cheek, judging by the opened first aid kit lying on the sofa and the little bandaid on his cheek. When the girl noticed him, she giggled and nudged Taehyun, whispering something to him, causing him to grumble and pout. Yeonjun could not help but to smile at Taehyun’s adorable expression.

Taehyun’s sister stepped up to Yeonjun and held out her hand.

“Hi! I’m Heeyoung, Taehyun’s older sister. Hyun’s told me a lot about you!”

“He… He has?” Yeonjun’s eyes widened (and so did Taehyun’s).

“Yeah, of course!” Heeyoung continued, grinning even wider. “I see he has a good eye, you really are-“

“Noona!!” Taehyun protested, running up to pull his sister by the arm. “Please don’t continue that.” He said with a pout.

Yeonjun just smirked, watching the whole spectacle.

“Fine, fine.” Heeyoung smiled, reaching to ruffle Taehyun’s hair affectionately. Taehyun huffed as he struggled away. “Hyun-ah, why don’t you two just relax in your room first? I’ll do some schoolwork and then cook dinner today before eomma and appa come home. Yeonjun-ssi, you should stay for dinner, I don’t think the rain’s going to let up any time soon.”

(Yeonjun felt his heart warm up at the thought of home-cooked food.)

“Thank you, Heeyoung-ssi,” was all he could reply.

Heeyoung smiled back and walked up to her room. Yeonjun turned back to look at Taehyun, whose cheeks were still faded pink from earlier.

“Sorry about her,” Taehyun grumbled a little as he signalled for Yeonjun to follow him up the stairs. “She’s a busybody.”

Yeonjun smirked as he trailed behind Taehyun. “What did you say about me? Now I’m curious.”

Taehyun did not reply, but Yeonjun saw the tips of his ears burn red as Taehyun pretended to be busy opening the door to his room. Interesting.

* * *

It was the first time Yeonjun had ever stepped into Taehyun’s room. Yet it was pretty close to what he had expected; neat and tidy, minus a few stuffed toys that were strewn around the different furniture in the room. Yeonjun almost did a double-take at the large tank on Taehyun’s dresser, which he assumed Aengdu was sleeping in. Yeonjun smiled to himself as he remembered how startled he and Beomgyu were when Taehyun had casually mentioned his pet snake the other day, with Yeonjun being slightly fascinated and Beomgyu silently contemplating his friendship choices. (They laughed afterwards after Beomgyu screamed at the picture that Taehyun showed, cowering into Kai’s arm, the latter’s face suddenly turning bright red.)

Taehyun’s desk was relatively simplistic as well, but an iron frame hung on the wall over the desk, almost completely covered in polaroids. Yeonjun took a few steps closer to check out the different pictures. There were definitely a lot of pictures of Taehyun, Kai and Soobin from past to present, but tucked in a corner, Yeonjun found the five of them together.

It was a polaroid of them at the ice cream parlour that they frequented together, a few blocks away from school and far enough that very little people from their school would pay a visit to. Where they won’t get weird looks for hanging out together and the owner knew Soobin well enough to trust that Yeonjun and Beomgyu would not be nuisances as per first impressions.

He smiled, gently touching the bottom of the polaroid with his fingertips. His heart swelled with happiness.

“You put this up as well?”

Taehyun turned around, and when he saw what Yeonjun was looking at, he beamed. “Of course! We’re friends now, aren’t we?”

Yeonjun chuckled. “You’re adorable.” He smiled back, watching as Taehyun’s cheeks turned pink again as he looked away quickly.

“You’re always like that…”

Yeonjun paused, tilting his head to one side. “Like?”

“You’re…. you’re flirting again, aren’t you?” Taehyun looked up at Yeonjun, cheeks still pink, and Yeonjun watched as his eyes shifted nervously. “Do you do that with other people, or is it just me?”

Yeonjun laughed fondly. Taehyun was the only one who could really drive Yeonjun to become as flirty as he was. Even the artificial light coming from the lights in his room illuminated his face in such a way that Yeonjun felt a little breathless.

“Only you. Never anyone else.” He admitted softly, feeling a little brave.

Taehyun’s eyes widened and he froze. Yeonjun held his breath as he watched how Taehyun seemed to be going through some inner turmoil, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeonjun-hyung……” Taehyun finally whispered shakily, “I really, really like you.”

Yeonjun’s brain short-circuited.

Taehyun continued rambling on, possibly unaware of the effect his words had on Yeonjun. “I-I know this seems so out-of-the-blue, but I just…. I was careful around you at first. I didn’t know what to expect – I’ve only heard things about you through the grapevine. But when I started to get to know you, I found out how sweet and how kind you were, how much you cared about Beomgyu-hyung despite all the bickering you two constantly do, how you looked out for Soobin-hyung that day in the cafeteria, how you always encouraged Kai’s art. And….” He broke out into a shy smile. “How you cared for me today, and all the other days before that. I guess it’s true to never judge a book by its cover, right? If we did, I would have never gotten to know you for who you really were. I guess that’s when I started to truly fall for you.”

Yeonjun was still stunned in silence.

Taehyun really did like him back.

Possibly sensing Yeonjun’s daze, Taehyun stammered, backing away from him slowly. “I-I’m sorry I made things weird, you don’t have to stay, I-I-“ The slight tremor in his voice broke Yeonjun’s heart and snapped him back into reality.

“No, Taehyun-ah, just…” Yeonjun reached out desperately to grip onto Taehyun’s shaking hands. He moved so that their fingers interlocked together, and was relieved that Taehyun did not pull away. “Listen to me. Fuck, sorry, I’m just trying to absorb the fact that the prettiest and kindest boy in the entire school _actually likes me back_.”

And that was indeed very difficult to believe. No matter how much Beomgyu told him otherwise. No matter how much Yeonjun would notice how flustered Taehyun would get when Yeonjun paid him compliments or flirted with him.

Yeonjun did not know why he was always hesitating to believe that good things could happen to him.

Maybe he was too used to disappointments in his life.

But Taehyun was never a disappointment. If anything, he was his happiness. So what did Yeonjun have to be afraid of?

“Taehyun-ah,” Yeonjun said quietly, looking down at their interlocked hands. “I-I…. I’ve liked you too for a very long time. I’ve noticed you since the start of your freshman year, actually.”

He heard Taehyun’s soft gasp as the grip on their hands got tighter. Yeonjun’s heart swelled – he was not going anywhere.

“But… but that was a year ago. Why didn’t you say hi sooner?” Taehyun asked softly.

Yeonjun just sighed.

“I was just scared, Taehyun. I’ve seen how people act around me, around us. I’ve always wanted to talk to you, but I was afraid that I was going to scare you away. I’ve lost so many people in my life. I just…. I didn’t want to risk losing you too. So maybe I tried pretending that the feelings weren’t there at all. The only person that knew about my crush was Beomgyu, and maybe he got too tired of me rambling that he finally dared me to at least say hi that day, I guess. And look where we are, so maybe it worked out?”

He looked up hopefully, wondering what Taehyun’s reaction would be to his words. Only to find the younger boy standing even closer to him. He swallowed back the lump in his throat, watching as Taehyun’s beautiful eyes followed his movements before dropping down to his lips. Yeonjun could even feel Taehyun’s soft but unsteady breaths as he seemed to contemplate something, lips slightly parted.

Taehyun’s lips looked really soft up close.

Yeonjun cleared his throat, looking away and attempting to will away the chaos that was the butterflies in his stomach.

“Hyung,” Taehyun said softly, now clutching softly onto the sleeves of Yeonjun’s shirt and causing him to look back up at Taehyun. “I don’t care what people say about you. About us.”

And then he pulled Yeonjun into a kiss.

Yeonjun was right, Taehyun’s lips were so soft. And they were moving against his with such confidence that he found himself slightly dazed. After a few seconds, however, his brain finally caught up and he smiled into the kiss, moving to deepen it further.

As they pulled apart, Taehyun could not help but let out a soft giggle as he rested his head onto Yeonjun’s chest, breathing in his scent. The latter smiled in return, wrapping an arm around Taehyun’s waist and kissed the top of his head, enjoying the way that Taehyun was nuzzling into him like a little cat. The wave of relief that rushed over him was exhilarating and Yeonjun had never felt happier holding Taehyun in his arms.

“Are we…” Taehyun said hesitantly, playing with the sleeves of Yeonjun’s shirt, “Can we-“

“Kang Taehyun.” Yeonjun’s smile grew as he hugged Taehyun closer. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

Taehyun could not help himself; he looked up at Yeonjun and nodded, breaking out into the biggest grin that Yeonjun had ever seen on him. His huge doe eyes were sparkling with the stars of a million galaxies. Yeonjun could only look back at him with the biggest amount of love and affection that he could display. He could not resist sneaking in another kiss onto Taehyun’s forehead, holding him close to his chest again.

“Taehyun-ah! Dinner’s ready!”

They jumped apart in shock as the door flew open, followed by an excited Heeyoung. Upon seeing their flushed faces and guilty expressions, she suddenly smirked.

“Hyun-ah,” Heeyoung chuckled, grin widening . “don’t take too long with your boyfriend, alright? Your food will get cold otherwise.” As the other two were still staring at her, wide-eyed, she gave a cheeky wink at the both of them and laughed again as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Yeonjun and Taehyun turned back to stare at each other, both faces still red, but the absurdity of the situation caused them to slowly burst out into giggles.

Taehyun took Yeonjun’s hand and smiled sweetly at him, somehow causing Yeonjun to blush even harder than he already was. Taehyun marvelled to himself at how he, of all people, had somehow managed to make _the_ Choi Yeonjun as flustered as he looked. But he was not complaining.

“Shall we, _boyfriend_?”

* * *

“Gyu texted me,” Yeonjun laughed as he held out his phone for Taehyun to look at the conversation. Taehyun was about to see him off from the front door of his house before Yeonjun received a flurry of vibrations in his front pocket; the spam of text messages from a panicked Choi Beomgyu.

Taehyun smiled as he read the entire text thread. Beomgyu was freaking out about Kai again, as usual, and Yeonjun had finally convinced him to ask Kai out on a proper café date, sans school project obligations. And now Beomgyu was texting Yeonjun again, freaking out for the second time about how nice Kai was and how sweet and beautiful-

“I’m happy for Kai.” Taehyun looked up at Yeonjun as he passed the phone back. “I think he and Beomgyu-hyung would make a good couple.”

“Better than we will?”

Taehyun giggled at Yeonjun’s response, reaching out to interlock Yeonjun’s fingers with his.

“Never.”

He looked back to make sure his family was not watching them, and he tugged softly onto Yeonjun’s leather jacket (fresh out of the dryer), pulling him closer and tiptoeing to sneak a kiss onto Yeonjun’s cheek. Yeonjun could not help but break out into an affectionate smile as Taehyun pulled away.

“Call me when you get home safe?" Taehyun said softly.

Yeonjun smirked as he reached to cup Taehyun’s face gently with both of his hands, causing the younger boy to blush again.

“Anything for you, baby.”

* * *

“Ugh, too many couples.”

Soobin pouted as he poked at his ice cream cup with his spoon, woefully watching the scene before him. Yeonjun and Taehyun were giggling to themselves, Yeonjun cheekily trying to feed Taehyun a spoon of his mint chocolate ice cream while Taehyun tried to frantically push him away. Kai and Beomgyu were also whispering over their shared ice cream sundae, though both looked up and smiled at Soobin’s remark.

“Soobin-hyungie~” Kai smiled as he reached over Beomgyu to pat Soobin on the arm. “We’ll find you a man soon.”

“I don’t need to be _matchmade_ …”

“Hey! Choi Beomgyu! Choi Yeonjun!”

The five at the table stopped what they were doing and turned to the direction of the voice. Soobin froze as he made eye contact with the man standing at their table. He looked…. soft, decked out in a pastel blue sweater and light-washed jeans. His smile was also soft and kind and Soobin observed how long and beautiful his eyelashes were, along with his pretty brown eyes – wait a minute.

“Daewon-hyung!” Beomgyu and Yeonjun called out happily, reaching out to high-five the other boy. “I almost didn’t recognize you, your wardrobe is totally updated!” Yeonjun observed.

Daewon smirked and pretended to pose, causing Beomgyu and Yeonjun to laugh.

“Eh, it just fits the vibes of my bakery.” Daewon shrugged. “Besides, I’ve grown into it – these sweaters are really nice and comfortable. Who are your friends?” His eyes landed on Kai and Taehyun, and then swiftly turned to look back at Soobin. Soobin could feel himself flushing and looked down shyly, suddenly interested in his ice cream, even as he could still feel Daewon’s eyes on him.

“This is Kai, he’s my boyfriend.” Beomgyu announced proudly, wrapping his arms around Kai and pulling him close. “And Taehyun over there is Yeonjun-hyung’s boyfriend!” Yeonjun smiled and nodded, sneaking a kiss onto Taehyun’s temple and causing the smaller boy’s ears to turn red.

“Nice to meet you guys,” Daewon smiled. “And who is this cutie over here?”

Soobin choked on his ice cream as his friends started giggling at his expense. He turned to Beomgyu, who was laughing more softly, yet the thoughtful but devious look on his face informed Soobin of his other intentions.

“That’s Soobin-hyung, who I’m sure would love to know more about your bakery; he also loves bread! I’ll text you his number!” Beomgyu chirped, dodging the large hand that was about to slap him in the arm. Taehyun, Kai and Yeonjun started giggling as they observed how flustered Soobin was once again as Daewon turned to look at Soobin again.

“Wha-“

“Really?” Daewon asked, tilting his head to one side while looking straight at Soobin. When Soobin did not reply after a while, Daewon’s expression fell a little. “But if it’s too much trouble, don’t be too pressured to accept-“

“No, I-“ Soobin protested as he fidgeted, biting his lip. He looked up shyly at Daewon. “I-I don’t mind.” His cheeks were reddening.

Daewon let out a cheer. “That’s great, let me know soon! See you around, everyone. And to you too, Soobin-ssi.” Throwing one last wink at the purple-haired boy, Daewon left the table, Soobin’s gaze following his every step.

The other four at the table shared similar scheming looks on their faces. Soobin turned back, his cheeks still pink, and quickly narrowed his eyes at his friends.

“Choi Beomgyu-”

“You’re welcome!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I thought I would never finish this; had a really bad and long writers’ block halfway through ): but I’m glad I somehow managed to get this done!  
> I hope you guys like this!  
> Remember to stream Can’t You See Me and collect voting points for music shows! Take care <3
> 
> twt: @/tataekvng


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